Towel-holder.



E. H. RAAB.

TOWEL HOLDER. APucAnoN FILED !ULY10.I9I6.

1 ,2? 1 ,766. Patented July 9, 1918.

[NVENTOR WJTNESSES o Eda/a rafiliaab EDWARD H. RAAB, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

TOWEL-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1918.

Application filed July 10, 1916. Serial No. 108,4005.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Enwann H. Haas, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State of'Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Towel- Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates, in general, to improvements in towel holders and it contemplates, primarily, the" provision of a novel and improved device of that nature such as will afford facilities whereby one end of a'towel or other article of a like nature may be quickly and easily engaged therewith and subjected to a gripping pressure that will retain the towel or other article in a secure position and prevent its accidental displacement.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a novel device of the above nature wherein the towel, cloth, or article of a like nature may not only be quickly associated therewith and thus retained in a' secure position during usage, but which may beeasily removed, in the proper manner. so that it may be used independent of holder if so desired. Various other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent during the continuance of the following description.

These objects are accomplished by such means as are shown in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and'then more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like parts through out the several views Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing my invention as in its preferred embodi ment, and mounted upon a suitable back,

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the invention as it appears in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation showa part of the back broken away. nthe drawings, the numeral 1 is applied to a suitable back or supporting structure upon which the holder may be mounted,

which, in the present embodiment is shown to be of such angular configuration whereby its exposed face may be utilized for containing advertising matter of Various characters. The back extends both above and 'lVhen desiring to position the towel, cloth 110 below the holder as well as to each side thereof thereby providing a comparatively large area for the reception of the advertising matter. At certain points on the back 1 1 provide suitable retaining members 2, which may be in the form of staples as shown in the present embodiment, yet it is to be understood that any other form of retaining members may be employed if so desired.

In the present embodiment I have shown the holder which constitutes my invention constructed of a single strand of wire; the said strand being bent to form an eye at one end as shown at 3, for engagement with one of the retaining members 2; extends downwardly and is looped, as at 4, at a point between the respective retaining members; is passed through the lower retaining member, as shown in Fig. 1; and is then brought upwardly and passed through the loop 4; above referred to, and bent to form asupporting arm 4 which extends approximately at right angles to the plane of the back 1. At. its free end, the supporting arm 4' is coiled as at 5; the strand of wire is then brought downwardly and bent as as 6 and passed upwardly through the coil 5, to provide a retaining jaw whose upper end is slightly flared orbent outwardly, as shown at 8. The strand is then formed into an arcuate portion 9 which passes in the rear of the vertically extending portion of the strand (see Fig. 1); the opposite end of the arcuate portions terminating in a depending portion 10, complemental to the flared portion 8 above referred to and arranged oppositely thereto; and a retaining jaw 11 which extends in parallelism to the jaw 7 ust mentioned; and the end portion passes through and terminates just below the coil 5 of the strand.

From the above it is obvious that the portions 8 and 10 of the strand form convergent guide elements to guide the towel. cloth or article of a like nature between the clamping jaws '7 and 11, thereby affording facilities for the quick positioning of the article in place. The arcuate portion 9 yieldingly resists spreading movement of the portions 8 and 10 and the upper ends of the jaws 7 and 11 while the coil 5 resists spreading movement of the lower end of the said jaws.

or other article of a like nature in the holder, the operator places the end of one finger at one end of the article and then presses the respective end of the article downwardly, between the portions 8 and 10 of the holder until it is in a position between the jaws 7 and 11. By then removing the finger and pulling downwardly on the article the end of the same is forced downwardly between the jaws and finally assumes a secure position. The greater the pull exerted on the article either outwardly or downwardly, the tighter it is gripped between the jaws 7 and 11. However, when desiring to remove the same, a slight upward jerk will quickly and easily dislodge the same from between the gripping jaws.

From the above it will be recognized that the holder which I have provided consists essentially of'a back or supporting portion, opposed retaining jaws having means to guide-the towel therebetween and means'to yieldingly resist spreading movement thereof. Consequently, inasmuch as it is believed that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent from the foregoing, further detail and description is not deemed necessary.

, In reducing the invention to practice, it

will be found that the form referred to. herein as the most practical and preferred embodiment is the most efficient, but realizing that certain conditions will necessarily vary in concurrence with the adoption of the device, it is emphasized that various minor changes in the details of construction and in the proportion of parts may be resorted to when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is a 1. A device composed ofa single length a of wire and formed with a semi-circular element, a pair of clamping elements disposed at an angle to the plane of the semi-circular element, a pairof uide elements connecting the semi-circular e ement with the clamping elements, a vertically disposed supporting element formed with loops at its upper and lower ends respectively and extending through said semi-circular element,.and an arm extending horizontally from said vertically disposed supporting element and ran rec united with the lower end portion of said pair of clampin elements.

2. A towel ho der, the combination with a back, of a carrying portion secured to said back, a supporting arm extending outwardly from said carrying portion, opposed retaining jaws mounted on said supporting arm, the upper ends of said retaining jaws flaring outwardly to form guide portions,.

"strand.

4. A towel holder consisting of a single strand of wire, in combination with a back having spaced apart securing members positioned thereon, comprising a portion connecting said retaining members, a supporting arm extending from said portion, op-

posed retaining jaws projecting upwardly from said supporting arms, the upper ends of said retaining jaws being flared outwardly with respect to each other to provide guiding portions, and an arcuate portion connecting the upperend of said flared portions to yieldingly resist spreading movement thereof, and extending between said back and said first mentioned portion, substantially as described. a

5. A towelholder comprising a carrying portion having means for securing it to a support, a supporting arm extending outwardly from said carrying portion, opposed retaining jaws mounted on said supporting arm, the, upper ends of said jaws flar'ing upwardly to form guide portions, and means connecting said retaining jaws andextending behind said carrying-portion and movable freely relative to said ortion.

In testimony whereof I a x my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD H. RAAB. Witnesses MATTHEW N. .GARD, JOHN W. LIMKES. 

